Which Merlin shut off kit?

[smurfin'herb]

I need to get a shut off kit for my merlin garden pro. I found they have 2 kits for doing this (auto shutoff, and electric shutoff). And after reading the advertisement for both of them i get the impression they are the same thing (even tho they arent). Its pretty much interpereted like this...."If you want to shut off your merlin while unatennded, just buy our auto shut off kit, BUT, if you REALLY wanna shut off your merlin, then you will have buy our electronic kit for 3x the price of the regular kit". Can anyone tell me what specifically makes this expensive kit better than the regular one? I fail to see. thx

 

[PonicalChillin]

I'm not 100% sure on this - but do own 2 merlins and plan on getting a auto shut off right after christmas. I've left the merlin on once and flooded my upstairs bedroom..sit above a garage so I was OK. 2nd time I left it on my 55 gal reservoir filled and overflowed for 3 days in a basement. Wouldn't have been a thing, but because it was so full it siphoned back into my controller bucket and my plants sat submerged in un oxiginated water for 3 days and felt the pain.

The float valve kit (round $45 bucks) will simply stop the clean water while the merlin still operates and wastes water.

The electronic kit will cut your source water (from hose faucet thread to merlin unit). I "think" it works like this..but would the pressure between the open faucet and solenoid before the merlin cause the compression fitting to pop?? The electronic kit also includes the cheap float valve in case power goes out and the solenoid doesnt do its job.

If you dont want to spend the $40 on the float valve you could always just put a 3/4" or something barb fitting at the top of your clean water reservoir. Water will fill up and just overflow out of the barb fitting down the drain or whatever... this ofcourse would still waste a lot of water.

Have you ever tried just a cheap GH float valve on the merlin.. just wondering why I have to spend $40 for the merlin valve..instead of just $10 for a normal gravity valve.

gotta go-- let me know what you come up with..

peace.
pc

 

[smurfin'herb]

Why would they even bother making a kit that shuts off just the blue line and not the black line....? Jus let it waste water? Anyway, i thought that when the blue line was pressurized (not in use) the black one stops emitting after short period. The REGULAR kit does connect to the blue line and shut it off, correct...? if so then i dont see how the black one would keep running..?

 

[PonicalChillin]

Anyway, i thought that when the blue line was pressurized (not in use) the black one stops emitting after short period.

Are you sure about this? I dont think thats how it works. I have a 1/2" compression valve on my clean water blue line. There have been times where I turned off this valve and forgot to turn the water to the unit itself off. The merlin continues to eject waste water from the black line down the drain.

If you do not want to waste water I'd suggest going with the the electronic shut off kit and installing the solenoid on the tap water line going into the merlin.

I've yet to be really concerned with the wasted water as it seems like no matter how much water I use I always get a $55 or so dollar water bill which always includes my trash and sewer fees. Before getting the merlin I used to have a shitty spectra pure 100gph unit (more like 30 gpd) and would let it run for 24hrs + straight and still didnt get any inflated water bills.

That being said I really need to look into how I'm charged for water. I'd love to get a water cooled AC unit..like a movin cool spot cooler, but I believe they require a cold water feed to waste which remains on 24/7. Not sure what this would do to my water bill (money wise).. or if it would get questioned that I'm using mass amounts of water residentially... off topic though..so I'll save that for one of my own posts.

peace
pc

 

[smurfin'herb]

nevermind, you are correct, i tested it.

 

[smurfin'herb]

Why would they even bother making a kit that shuts off just the blue line and not the black line then....? that doesnt make sense.